Protégé: Abandoned
by The Reviewess
Summary: Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation, has been shipped off to Konoha in the dead of night. Her death has been faked and Zuko is the only Royal child. Follow Azula as she is taken in by her Aunt and taught the way of the Shinobi! Warnings on inside.
1. The Beginning

**Greetings everyone! **

**This story has been stuck in my head for ages (meaning since the freaking beginning of last summer) so when I just got my laptop for my birthday (Today, May, 29th) I had to type this all out so far. I would like to make this a rather long series. I try to keep this matching up with what happens in the series in said crossovers but we all know that for sure wont happen. I have a few warnings though. There WILL be femslash/yuri/lesbian-ness later in the story and even some slash/Yaoi/gayness. I'll let you do the guessing because thats more fun. ALSO - there is GodAzulaness. Yeah, she's going to pretty sue like and bad ass. Deal. There is some other stuff but I forget it now. Whatever.**

**Anywho~ Lets geth this show on the road.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto/ATLA**

**-TR**

**~Protege: Abandoned~**

It was a late night in the Fire Nation. The night air was warm and the sky was a deep black with stars poking out at times. There were no clouds, which was good for sailors who traveled by stars. Not many people were awake at this time.

Many of the taverns had closed for the night so the drunks were just stumbling home. The only people who were out were a mother and her daughter. The two were walking to the port. Both remained quiet for the most part.

"You have the scrolls that I left in your room?" The woman asked the young child.

"Yes. Although I don't understand why you wanted them. They have all the bending styles in them..." They girl replied to her mother.

"You will understand in due time." Her mother answered, "What of the other things?"

"I have my clothing and the things that you gave me all in my pack. And the scroll that I am to give to a Kurenai."

"Good." She replied, "Now when we get there you will not bother the sailors on the ship. If they ask for assistance, you give it. You are not a princess anymore."

"I'm still a princess." The girl growled angrily.

"Don't act like one. People don't like little monsters."

"Who cares." The girl stated, "I'm their superior, they should obey me anyway." She then pointed to her crown, "This proves it."

Her mother smirked and plucked the crown off of the little girl's head. "And now it doesn't Azula."

The girls eyes narrowed and smoke came out of her nose as she growled. Azula gave her the look that said "Give it back or I will burn off your eyebrows" but it didn't work out for her. Instead the woman wrapped the crown in a red cloth and placed it in her daughters bag.

"You have to give that to Kurenai as well." The girl didn't respond with words. She just growled at the older woman. The woman rolled her eyes. The sooner she was rid of the monster, the better. Then she might have a normal life with her husband, who would only pay attention to the little girl, and her son, who was frequently ousted by his little sister. Maybe with the monster gone, things will be normal.

"Why do I have to go." Azula asked now breaking the silence.

"So you can get stronger." Her mother lied.

"Then send Zuzu away. He's weak. He could stand to get stronger. You baby him too much and it makes him weak." That may be true but it angered the woman. Nobody talked about Zuko, the Crown Prince, that way to her. Especially not this monster of a child.

"You're going and that's final Azula."

Azula didn't respond immediately. I stead she focused on the road in front of her. They had about a five minute walk until the reached the port where she was to board a boat that was to take her away to a distant land called the Land of Fire. Azula approved of the name. She liked fire but she was a Fire Bender so of course she liked fire. By the age of six, she had mastered the basic moves of fire bending perfectly. She was a protégé. Her father had even trained her a little bit.

"Does father know I'm leaving?" She asked her mother.

That was a very good question. Prince Ozai actually had no idea of his daughter being sent away. Her mother had actually planned to send Azula away and stage her kidnapping by a rebellion in the Fire Nation. The scrolls that were taken from the Palace Library were going to be taken by these "Assassins" to teach people who had the ability to bend, to use more dangerous techniques to take down the Fire Nation from the inside. Soon Fire Lord Azulon would start persecuting his own people and when he didn't have enough people, the Fire Nation would fall and the war would be over.

"Of course he know Azula. But your father is a busy man so sadly he can't come see you off. But Uncle Iroh will be here."

The girl rolled her eyes. She hated Uncle Fatso. Sure he was the General of the army but he always sent her stupid gifts and he would always beat her at pai sho and it frustrated her to no end.

Little did the girl know, Uncle Iroh, one of the leaders of the White Lotus, was in on this plan of sending Azula away. He and her mother had planned this for almost a year. The woman who was to receive her, Kurenai, had no idea of the plot. All she knew is that Azula is her niece and want to become stronger. Kurenai knew that Azula was a princess and she was snobby and a brat but she also know that the girl was a protégé and that she would make a fantastic shinobi.

The two females finally reached the port. That was when Azula saw the strangest ship she had ever seen. It wasn't like any of the war ships. It still had and armor plating on it but it was so small and had a sort of motor on the ship. It intrigued her but it was still very pathetic. She was a princess, why was she to be placed on some dingy little ship? It didn't matter because the girl really had no say in this. She was only a six year old. She may be the princess but she was still only six.

"I have to go on that thing?" Her mother never answered her because her Uncle had appeared on the port and engulfed his niece into a bone crushing hug.

"How is my favorite niece?" He said in a jolly manner.

"I'm your only niece." The sleep deprived princess snapped at the old man.

"That makes you my favorite!" He exclaimed happily.

"Whatever. You came to say good bye to me?" She asked him.

"Azula, be nice to Uncle Iroh!" Her mother scolded her for her manners.

"It's fine Ursa! She's just tired. She is up very late. Lack of sleep will do that to anyone. It's fine." Iroh smiled. "I actually have something for you Azula."

Azula looked at the man with one brow raised. He handed her a large wooden box. Inside it contained two sheathed katanas.

"I felt that it would be very useful where you are going."

For the first time in her young life, Azula gave her uncle a kiss in the cheek.

"Thank you very much Uncle Iroh!" The young child exclaimed happily. She took the swords out of their sheaths. They were perfectly balanced and very heavy for the six year old. They were made of dragon scales, the toughest material there was. The scales gave the blade a redish color that Azula loved. "I love them!"

"I thought you would." Iroh chuckled, "Use them well." Azula nodded and cradled the large box in her tiny arms. "Now I believe it is time for you to get on the ship Princess."

Iroh and Azula walked up the gangplank to the ship.

"This Hime?" The man on the boat asked, he had blonde hair, something unusual in her country.

"Yes, this is Hime, Yuuhi Hime." Ursa responded to the man. "And you must be Namikaze-San."

The man nodded in response, "Yes ma'am. Sho Namikaze. I'll be Yuuhi-san's escort to the Land of Fire, and possibly to Konoha."

Ursa nodded at this statement and gently pushed Azula inside of the vessel. "Take care of her. She's our only hope."

The man nodded and took hold of Azula. "Of course. We'll train her up well. I have no doubt that she will make jonin by the time she is 15."

"Good. I must be off. Good bye." Ursa turned around and left the port. This confused Azula who thought she would stay and wave until they couldn't see her anymore.

"Well Bye to you too!" Azula shouted before storming away, swords in hand.

"Good bye Niece! I will await the day you return with excitement." Iroh called.

Azula turned around and shouted her good byes while the ship took off. "Bye!" She called to him. Iroh nodded and kept waving until the ship was out of sight.

When he could no longer see Azula of her ship, he stopped waving. He calmly turned around and made his trek up to the Fire Nation Palace. It was very calm and peaceful walk, until he found Ursa.

"What took you so long Iroh!" She asked him.

"I felt it polite to wave to my niece as she left the Fire Nation." The General responded calmly. "Have you staged to look like Azula was kidnapped?"

"Yes, I left bits of Ba Sing Se silk over the room that was slightly singed so they believe that Azula fought a little. There are a few burn marks in the room as well and dirt on the floor."

"Not bad." Iroh said. He couldn't say anymore until he saw the room. "Let's go."

"Yes let's." Ursa decided.

While the two Fire Nation Royals walked back to the Palace, the youngest royal was on a shinobi ship. The vessel was very fast. Azula looked back at the Islands that were the Fire Nation. She missed it already. The men aboard the ship left the girl alone. All she had were the clothes on her back, the swords and whatever was in her bag. Finally Sho approached her.

"Hey kid. Missing home already?" He asked her.

Azula who was leaning against the edge of the boat just nodded.

"Yeah I miss home too. My home is Konoha. You'll be living there with the Yuuhi Heiress. Not a big clan I will say. Pretty new. All of them are good with Genjutsu so I bet you will be pretty good at it considering you are one."

"I'm a what?" Azula asked him.

"Well a ninja. A Yuuhi. Yuuhi is a clan who specializes in Genjutsu. They aren't a major clam yet, but they are pretty small." Sho answered her. "They all have red eyes or sometimes gold eyes like you."

Azula nodded but remained silent.

"You know kid, it's getting really late... Well it IS really late. You should probably be going to bed right now."

"You're not my father, why should I listen to you?" Azula grilled dangerously at the man. Sho seemed unfazed though. He had seen worse.

"Well I'm going to be a father soon so I better get some practice in right?" Azula shrugged but then nodded.

"Yeah, I guess."

"C'mon, I'll show you to your bed." The two walked down some steps into a cabin below the ship. Inside there were hammocks all over the place and hooks right above. "We all sleep in hammocks, it's comfy but a bed is better. The hooks up there," he pointed to hooks above the hammocks, "they are for our bags." They walked over to a corner hammock. "This will be yours. Can you get up in it?"

"Of course I can!" Azula responded. She grabbed the cloth and tried to get up but it just flipped over on her. She attempted getting up a few more times before she gave up. It wasn't a problem though, Sho gently picked her up and placed her on the hammock.

"Thanks." She muttered not sounding very thankful.

"Anytime Hime."

"Why do you call me Hime? What does it mean?" Azula asked in a demanding tone.

"Where I come from, Hime means Princess. And many if us in my country have codenames so I just assume that yours would be Hime. In Konoha you won't use your codename, that's only on big missions like these."

"Missions? You're on a mission?" The princess questioned him.

"Yes. A recovery mission. It's A ranked, so it's one of the hardest." Sho responded to the child.

"What does your mission have to do with me?"

"We had to come get you and get you to the Land of Fire or Konoha with you being unhurt." Sho explained. "I can explain more to you tomorrow Hime. It's getting late so you should go to sleep."

Azula yawned. "I've stayed up later!"

"I'm Sure you have," Sho chuckled, "But you need to be rested because I'm going to teach you shinobi things tomorrow."

"Alright." Azula decided against arguing with the ninja. "When is dawn?"

Sho paused and looked at a wrist watch, "In about six hours."

Azula nodded and laid down in her hammock. Sho put a blanket over the girl, who accepted the small gift before drifting off to sleep.

"Good Night Princess."

**So? What do you think? Is it good? I hope it is. I haven't written in a while so... yeah!**


	2. Come Sail Away

**I'm back again! Don't expect me to update this fast guys. The only reason that this one is coming out so fast is because it had already been written when the first chapter was posted. I just edited it a bit more. I'm trying to get 2000 words per chapter if not more. I really need a beta. Just to give me some more bulk in this story. If anyone wants to beta, drop me a line. Seriously. Anywho~ On with the show.**

**~Protege: Abandoned~**

The next morning Azula, like most firebenders, rose at dawn. As she went to get out of her bed, she flipped her hammock over and fell with a mighty thump onto the floor. All of the shinobi resting in their respective Hammocks jumped and readied their weapons to fight off the intruder. When they discovered it was only a child they simply went back to sleep and dismissed the girl as an idiot who can't get out of a hammock.

Azula took it upon herself to go onto the main deck of the ship and run through all of her basic firebending katas. This took and hour of focus and she completed them perfectly, as Azula was always perfect. She finished her last kata and paused for just a moment.

"That's impressive." A voice behind her said. It was Sho. "How did you do that?"

"I'm a firebender." Azula answered him. "I learned."

Sho nodded, "Would you teach me?"

Azula stared at him for a moment, "If you teach me shinobi tricks." If she was going to a place with she might as well get the basics down so she could make it faster.

Sho found this acceptable and agreed. How hard could it be to teach a little girl?

"Well the most basic thing there is, is the Fire Punch." Azula moved into her stance. Her feet were shoulder width appart and her body was turned to the left. She brought her fists up to her chest level and made her left hand flat. Her right was still a fist. "This is the stance for a fire punch. Now you can do a normal punch this way too but if you want the fire you have to feel the fire." The six year old explained. "You have to feel your inner fire inside you and then when you punch you have to push it out of every part of your hand."

Azula demonstrated the punch. Sho nodded, it didn't look hard but it was very hard for the shinobi. He was very tense and that just never works.

"You need to relax." Azula said to him.

"How else can you make the fire come?" Sho asked her in a frustrated voice.

"Eh, it just doesn't seem like you can do it." This made Sho mad. He was a Fire user and a Wind user, he should be able to. Stupid inner fire. THe kid probably has no idea what she was talking about anyway.

He growled and tried once more. He threw his anger and frustration into his punch and to his surprise, it lit! His hand had created a red orange fire. The jonin of Konoha smiled.

"Fire is controlled by emotions. Use your emotions well and you can wield fire better. I find that anger works very well. Most Masters let their anger fuel their fire. If you have no passion, you have no bending. That inner fire must be there. Sometimes I think of fighting for someone to help me." Azula told him. Sho was impressed that a six year old could be so knowledgeable. She had pretty much tricked him into creating the flames so this kid had to be a genius.

"Do you have anyone to fight for?" Sho asked her.

"My father." Azula answered, "I want to please father. I fight for him and..." She drifted off but quickly decided that she would say to much, "I fight for him. What about you?"

"My wife and unborn child. He will he born any day now." Sho replied with a large smile. He was excited to be a father.

"You must be happy."

"I am." Sho replied. Both stood in silence for a moment before Azula decided to break it.

"Well now that you know HOW to do a Fire Punch, you must perfect it."

Sho looked confused, "Perfect it? I just did it didn't I?"

"You did but it was very sloppy. You must do it again and again until you master it!" Azula declared. "But before you practice, teach me how to do a shinobi move!"

Sho nodded, it was only fair. He racked his brain for a move while the tiny Yuuhi looked at the jonin with wide eyes.

"I have it! The Clone Jutsu! It's basic Genjutsu, something Yuuhi's are quite good at." Sho put his fingers into the correct handsign (Which he showed Azula how to do it) and said, "Clone jutsu!" That was when two other Sho's popped into existence.

Azula smiled. "Okay so how do I do it?"

"Well, inside or bodies, we have this thing called Chakra. It is our inner powers inside of our bodies. There are different types of chakra and as Ninja we have to have all of those chakras in sync and working with each other in perfect harmony. That's how we perform jutsus. But what you need to to is focus your chakra into creating an exact copy of yourself." Sho explained to her.

Azula absorbed this information like a sponge before attempting. She visualized her body, every part of it before channelling her chakra.

"Clone Jutsu!" She shouted. Then right next to her, was a milky white version of herself. She had the basic shape and there was some definition but it was very pasty.

"Good first try. Not many kids can get that on their first try." Sho said to the girl.

He was still practicing his punches. They were gradually getting better but his hands needed to have fire before he even punched, they only got fire halfway through.

Both continued to practice for the rest of the day until Azula almost collapsed. She could make two clones and her third always looked a little ghostlike.

Sho had almost mastered the fire punch, it was pretty easy like Azula had said. Now that he knew an attack move, Azula made him try to make fire in his hands without attacking. It proved to be more difficult but he was determined to master it... Eventually.

After being on the ship for three days, Azula learned the Clone jutsu and the Body Flicker Jutsu. Sho learned his Fire Punch and he could create fire in his hands. Azula had also done a test to see how many fore punches he could make consecutively. He could make three. Azula had made ten before she stopped. The two sparred everyday, Sho ended up winning most of them because he could easily pin her down but the child could fight. She had some experience, that was all he knew. The two shared some interesting bonding time, meaning he taught Azuka how to use a shower (it proved to be a very amusing thing) and they ate crappy travel food. Then night before they were to arrive at Konoha, Azula was restless so Sho told her stories about his village and the Hokage, the strongest ninja in the village. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

"And after the war, my brother-" He looked over to see that Azula had drifted into unconsciousness. "Became the Hokage but died after the Kyuubi attacked... Minato's son still lives but I am never allowed any contact with the boy, under the Hokage's orders..." Sho sighed sadly before going to his bunk and crashing.

'Maybe Hime will be his friend...' He thought before falling asleep himself.

They spotted the port off of the Land of Fire the next day when Azula was focusing on learning the Substitution Jutsu and Sho was trying out his Fire Kick. When land was spotted, Sho stopped practicing when he heard that and helped get the ship ready to dock. He sent Azula up to the Crow's Nest where she would watch everything and keep out of the way.

They pulled in smoothly and everything was unloaded within moments. Sho brought Azula off the ship with her stuff in her hands. He looked around the port, there was no shinobi with the exception of the few on the ship.

"Sho-Sama!" A man yelled As he ran up the port to get to Sho.

"Yes Moku-San?" Moku handed Sho a letter.

"From Hokage-Sama? What does it say?" He paused to read it. "Well Hime-chan, I guess I'm taking you to Konoha. Your guardian is on a mission and is a little late."

Azula nodded and used the Body Flicker Jutsu to appear ten feet away from him.

"Let's get going then. How long will it take us?"

Sho walked over to Azula, picked her up and put her on his shoulders. "Only a day if you hold on tight!" Azula smiled and Sho ran down the path that would take them to Konoha.

Azula liked being on Sho's shoulders. She liked the feeling of the wind through her hair. It gave her a feeling like she was flying. Soon Sho jumped into the trees and started hopping on the branches. This made Azula scream at first and cover the man's eyes but she grew comfortable and uncovered them in a few seconds. He never dropped her once.

After five hours of tree hopping, Sho took a break. Night was coming and they were only halfway there.

"Okay, Night is coming and it's not the best thing to travel at night so we will take a break for today." Azula nodded, "Then we will get to Konoha tomorrow. Why don't you work on the Substitution Jutsu?"

Azula nodded again and practiced replacing herself with a log. The jutsus, like Sho had told her, were rather easy and Azula had it down at the end of the night. The girl was very proud of herself and she had every right to be.

"Nice job but it's time for dinner." Sho said after Azula demonstrated all three jutsus that she had learned.

The girl walked over and was handed a bowl of noodles and chopsticks.

"This is Ramen. I love ramen. It's delicious."

The princess shrugged and started eating the strange noodles. After a few bites, her eyes lit up and she started devouring the whole bowl of food.

"It's amazing!" She put her bowl out for more and Sho was happy to give her some.

The two enjoyed a nice conversation about their countries. Sho told Azula about Honorifics that are at the end of peoples names and he gave her the common ones like San, Chan, Kun, Sama and Sensei. He explained exactly what they meant and when to use them. Azula told him about the Fire Nation and the war.

After dinner, Azula asked him to teach her how to tree hop. Sho shrugged and thought that the idea was a noble one.

"Well first. We need to concentrate our chakra into our feet to climb the tree." Sho started walking up the nearest tree using only his feet. "Using too much Chakra will cause you to bounce off and too little won't let you stick. It's trial and error."

Azula nodded and started to channel chakra into her feet so that she would stick.

"Now get a running start. It always helps." Sho had jumped down by the that time and was behind her.

Azula looked at her tree and ran at it. She managed to get five steps up it before she fell. Sho marked the spot with a kunai.

"Now try to get higher and mark that spot on the tree." Azula gave a curt nod before running at the tree again. She got a little higher but not much before she lost it and marked the spot.

"Remember, stick to the tree." The kid ran again for the third time and got seven steps up the tree. Two more than before.

"Better. Always focus. Never lose your focus."

Azula practiced late into the night, well late for a six year old. Now she had gotten twenty steps up the tree and the girl was tiring. She kept pushing herself though. She wanted to get to a branch before the night was over so that Sho would teach her how to tree hop. After being carried for five hours, her butt fell asleep and her legs did too. Definitely and uncomfortable experience that she did not want to repeat.

It was dark now, probably around ten PM Sho estimated. He decided to call the girl over and made her get in the tent that he had packed. Azula didn't fuss at all and crawled in. She was out the second her head hit the pillow. Sho made a clone that would keep watch for danger while he slept, sure he would only feel half rested but that was fine for him.

The next morning, Azula didn't get up at dawn like she usually did. Sho noticed this and shrugged it off. He decided that the best thing to do now was pack silently without her knowing. If he was lucky, she would still he asleep when he started back on the journey home to Konoha.

The shinobi packed his sleeping bag into his pack by sealing it and then quietly opened the tent. His clone from earlier had been dispelled and Sho was face to face, well face to bark with the tree that Azula was practicing on. There were marks halfway up the tree. Azula had snuck up on his clone and dispelled it by slicing through it with a flaming sword.

'She practiced after we went to sleep?' Sho thought. He then looked back at the girl in the tent and smiled. She progressed a lot and was probably suffering from the lack of chakra.

The jonin took her out of the tent carefully, packed everything up, including Azula's things and carried the young kid off toward Konoha.

**Please review guys. I got a few favs and some alerts so I think you are just being lazy. C'mon! Up the reviews! Please!**


	3. Welcome to Konoha

**First off before I start, I would like to thank reven228 for noticing that I accidentally put Naruko instead of Naruto! Thank you very much! Shows how much I don't pay attention at 11 at night haha! **

**Second news, my girlfriend (who I am madly in love with) and I are no longer an item so don't expect chapters to pop out fast. I'm super depressed and I've been crying at the drop of a hat. And I've been blasting Emilie Autumn from my speakers on my laptop. Stupid France, taking my love of my life.**

**Lastly... Holy Fudge Monkeys I got a lot of reviews! Awesome guys! I'd love some more XD! Oh! And be sure to chek out my DeviantART, YaoiYuriTwins. My buddy and I share the account. I will be posting some things relating to this up there later. Like what Azula will look like and Naruto too. Drop me a line there and give me some ideas if you would like. Later. (Just make sure you specify that you are there for Yuri, not Yaoi)**

**I wanted to do more with this chapter, like make it longer but then it would have reached around 5k words and I was just really lazy and didn't feel like it so yeah.**

**~Protege: Abandoned~**

Azula didn't wake up until Sho landed on the ground to walk up to use the bathroom in a town nearby. It was a rather rough landing which was why Azula woke up.

"Sho-San?" Azula questioned as she looked at the spiky blonde man.

"Hello Hime-chan. Have a nice nap?" Sho asked her.

Azula nodded, "I feel great now. Where are we? We aren't in the tent anymore..."

"We are in a town right by Konoha. We should be there in an hour. I just had to use the bathroom." Sho explained, "well... I still need to go to the bathroom."

"Yeah... Me too come to think of it... Where are they?"

Sho and Azula walked into the nearest store, a clothing store, so they could use the bathroom. Azula finished first, oddly, and decided to browse the store. Inside were mostly civilian clothes but there was a part dedicated to shinobi clothing. That was when Azula saw the typical shinobi sandals. They had a black pair and a blue pair. Azula, being the Crown Princess, instantly wanted the black pair because blue was just an awful color. The child looked down at her own shoes, they were getting warn out by the shinobi training.

"Like them?" Sho had appeared right behind her. "You'll probably get a whole new wardrobe soon, including shoes. Anyway, let's get going. I'll teach you to tree hop."

Those last few words excited Azula so the girl ran outside. Sho followed and led her to the edge of the town that was closest to Konoha. He leapt into the tree and Azula walked up the same tree to his branch.

"Very good. Now the trick with tree hopping is, of course, chakra. You are going to focus it in your feet for jumping purposes and to catch onto the branch in front of your feet. Not too much and not too little." Sho jumped to the other branch to demonstrate. Azula followed quickly. Tree hopping was rather easy and Azula caught on in no time and soon they were off to Konoha.

After thirty minutes of jumping, Azula had an interesting thought.

"Sho-San? Do you think that Chakra is the same thing as my Chi? Because after I used those jutsus, I found it really hard to bend and sometimes I couldn't bend at all."

Sho thought about this question for a moment. The little six year old posed a good point.

"Well maybe. They might be connected somehow. You said to create the fire doesn't cost any chi. Chi just helps you bend. So I think the more chi or chakra you have, the easier it is to bend. The power of the bender probably depends on the amount of chi the bender has. But I don't know." Azula just shrugged and kept quiet.

The two didn't speak again until the reached the gates of Konoha. Azula was in awe when she saw the leaf village. It was very large. Much larger than the Capitol city that Azula had called home for many years. The buildings were so interesting, they looked nothing like the Fire Nation buildings. Azula liked them. Azula bolted through the gates to get a better view but was stopped by two shinobi.

"State your business." The first guard said.

"My business is my own." Azula growled to him.

The guard had silver hair and a headband like Sho but it covered his right eye and he had a mask too. The other shinobi was female. She had red hair and red marks on her face.

"Now no Kakashi-Kun. Be nice to the girl. She is just a kid after all." The Kunoichi told her companion.

"I'm not just a kid! My name is-"

"Hime!" Sho had caught up to her. "Ah, Kakashi-San, Rin-San! Good to see you! Where is Hayate-San and Genma-San? Aren't they supposed to be working the gate today?"

"Ah! Sho-Kun!" the Kunoichi known as Rin exclaimed, "Welcome back! Genma and Hayate have a last minute mission with their team before the Chunin exams so we are here."

Kakashi nodded. "Who is this?" He pointed to Azula.

"Yuuhi Hime." Sho answered.

"My name is Azula." Azula muttered to herself.

"Azula?" The three ninja replied in unison.

"Cool name." Rin said afterward.

"So that's your name." Sho responded, "I like it... Anyway, we have to get to see Hokage-Sama."

Azula just nodded. The princess knew that the Hokage was the leader of the village and also the strongest ninja of he village as well. This Hokage must not be a person to be trifled with. Secretly the pricess wondered if the man was like her father. Did he strike fear into his citizens hearts? Did he punish them if they did something and it was not perfect? May questions such as these ran through her mind as she and Sho ran through the grand city of Konoha.

'Sure father isn't the leader of the Fire Nation... yet... but he might as well be.' The young kid decided.

They had taken to th roofs of the city... Meaning Sho threw Azula over his shoulder and sprinted to the Hokage's Mansion to report the mission. It took the man five minutes to make it to the mansion. A very impressive feat that was not attempted by many. He entered the office with a skip in his step. Sho was very happy to be home.

"Ah Sho-kun! Very glad you are back. I was about to send a search party out to find you!" The Hokage said.

Azula didn't get a good view of the man. She did see white robes but then she was ushered behind Sho. His voice was ery raspy soundung.

'He probably doesn't get much sleep like father.' She thought. What she saw next shocked her.

"You must be Hime!" The voice said right when Azula was ushered behind Sho. The girl looked out from behind her escort to see this really old man. He had liver spots and gray hair. This was definetly not the leader she had been expecting.

'Maybe he is a scribe or something...' Azula thought

Sho pushed Azula in front of him. "Yup! This is Azula-chan, Hokage-sama!'

'HOKAGE! This is the Hokage!' To say she was shocked was the biggest understatement of the year. Probably of her life.

"Azula-hime! Nice to meet you! I am the Hokage of Konoha."

"Greetings Hokage-sama."

The old man laughed heartily. "No need to be so formal Azula! You can call me Ojiisan."

The word confused Azula. "O-Jii-san?" The Hokage nodded. "Of course, Ojiisan."

The Hokage smiled. Azula had never seen someone so old smile at her. Uncle Iroh wasnt that old... compared to this guy. This guy was ANCIENT. His face was all wrinkly and it fascinated the princess.

"Well, I won't keep any of you're time Sho-kun as I believe you must be sprinting to the hospital." The Hokage told the jonin.

"Hospital?" Sho questioned.

"Why yes! I believe you will soon be a father so you must be running." Sho jumped in shock. His baby was about to be born. He ran out of the door but not before grabbing the money he recieved from the mission. Sho sped down the hall and out of the building. From the mansion, Azula and the Hokage watched dust fly in the air as Sho ran. One could also detect people running out of the way of the speedy shinobi. Even other shinobi were having trouple getting out of his way. No matter, nobody was hurt in the jonin's trek from mansion to hospital.

"Siblings. So alike in many ways. He did that in a minute. That might be a new record." The Hokage thought aloud. Young Azula made a coughing noise to show that she was still present.

"AH! Azula-hime! Forgive this mind of an old man. I tend to forget things rather quickly." He said in a jolly manner which reminded Azula somewhat of her uncle. She wrapped her small fingers around the katanas that he had given her as a reminder of him. "I'm sure you are wondering what we will be doing with you, hm? No need to fret my dear. We have it all taken care of. Kurenai may not be here yet, as she is still on a mission, but she will arrive home soon enough. In the mean time-" he paused to think, "we will go on a walk and I will show you my village of Konoha. Does that sound good to you my dear?"

"It sounds perfectly acceptable Hokage-sama." Azula responded politely.

"Yes. I agree." the Sarotoubi clan leader stood up from his chair and led the young child to the edge of his office. "Oh, you can leave your things here, we can collect them later."

Azula hesitated for a moment but left her pack on the floor next to the door. The blades stayed with her. They crisscrossed across her back, the straps did the same accross her front too.

"Your swords will be safe here. I promise."

"I understand, but I would rather keep them with me. My Uncle Iroh gave them to me. He's the Dragon of the West." Azula replied.

Hiruzen shrugged but let the girl take them. It was obvious that she was home sick.

The two exited the building and walked to some of the well known places in Konoha. First they went to the were many children running laps around a track. On another part of a field, there were children throwing various weapons at targets. If she looked closely at the windows, Azula could see kids inside studying. They ranges in ages from six to twelve. Inside with the kids were ninja teachers.

"Lets go inside." Azula didn't respond, she just followed.

Hiruzen walked down the hall to the first classroom on the left hand side. The side closest to the field. The duo could detect yelling coming from the room and it wasn't a childs voice. It was a young man's voice.

"NARUTO!" The man screamed. Then there was much laughing. The Hokage opened the door and Azula watched the events play out from behind the Hokage.

Inside there were many kid sitting at desks. There seemed to be about 30 kids but Azula wasn't positive. The kid that stuck out the most was a boy with whisker marks on his face and messy blonde hair. The boy reminded Azula of Sho a little but not too much. He was standing on a desk and pointing at the teacher. His laughter was what stuck out the most to Azula. He was laughing for a good reason. The ninja that was acting as teacher was covered in water and had a bucket on his shoe and his head. He looked positively hilarious.

The sight before them made Azula bust out in a fit of giggles. Hiruzen smiled, "Funny isn't?"

"Yes very!" Azula replied gathering her self control. The laughter had died down and all of the students and the teacher were now looking at the new arrivals.

"H-h-hokage-sama!" The teacher exclaimed. He was bright read and he had a scar accross his nose.

"Hello Iruka-kun. I must say, that look suits you." He joked to the teacher.

"I didn't do this on purpose! It was one of Naruto's practical jokes!" The boy named Naruto turned bright red and tried to hide behind a rather large boy who was eating some chips.

Hiruzen just smiled, "I'm sure Naruto-kun just wanted to make the things that you are teaching them more memorable. You know that people tend to remember things better if they have a good memory to associate it with. Maybe it could be a picture or a song or in this case, Naruto's prank. I'm sure that was all he was doing. Right Naruto-kun?"

Naruto stuck his head out from behind the large boy. "Uh... Yeah Jiji, that's exactly what I was doing. Just tryin' to help everyone else!" He rubbed the back of his head but smiled at him.

A girl on the otheside of the lagre boy hit naruto in the head. "Don't disrespect Hokage-sama, Naruto!" Azula moved a little from behind ther Hokage to get a better view of the girl. She had pink hair with a red bow in it. It clashed with each other and the little princess rolled her eyes in disgust.

Naruto had noticed Azula behind Hiruzen and shouted, "Jiji! Why is that girl here?" The whole clas instantly focused on Azula, well what they could see of her.

Hiruzen pushed Azula in front of him so everyone could see her. "This is Azula-hime. She just came to Konoha today and I was just giving her a tour of Konoha. We stopped by to see what things everyone was learning today. Azula will most likely be joining this class in the near future."

Iruka nodded and approached Azula (after taking the buckets off). "It is nice to meet you Azula-hime. I'm sure you will find that I am a great teacher and an excellent ninja. I was actually about to demonstrate the substitution justu when I was pranked." Iruka proceeded to glare daggers at Naruto who just shrugged it off.

"If you're such a great ninja and a great teacher, why didn't you do the substitution jutsu to avoid getting pranked?" Azula asked in a snarky way.

"Well! The answer to that question is quite simple! The reason I didn't use the jutsu is... well... because I didn't think about it..." Iruka finished lamely.

"Aren't ninja's supposed to be alert at all times?" Azula questioned. She took a step forward for dramatic effect and looked the teacher in the eyes. It would have been more dramatic if she was actually eye level with him and not two feet shorter but she still got some of the desired effect.

"Well yes but-"

"What if there was an attack? And what if those buckets were bombs?"

"Don't start here with that. You might give Naruto some ideas."

"You suck as a shinobi." Azula replied. Iruka's jaw dropped. The kids around her started to snicker.

"Well if you're so smart why don't you do the substitution jutsu."

Azula shrugged. "Alright." She left one sword where she was standing and then walked to the front tof the room. She focused her Charkra so that she would trade placed with her sword. "Substitution Jutsu!" Just then, Azula had traded places with her sword. "Tada."

The whole class gave her a standing ovation. This irritaded Iruka to no end. If it was possible, there would be smoke coming out of his ears. Hiruzen saw this and decided that it would be best for the class to be over for today.

"Why don't you all run along home." The kids cheered and started to file out of the room. "Everyone except Naruto." Naruto turned beet red and slowly walked toward the almighty leader of his village. THe other kids gave the joker one last look before bolting out the door to enjoy the freedom of being out of school early.

When everyone left, Naruto looked up at the Hokage with a guilty look in his eyes. Azula decide that this would be a good time to go

"Now Naruto-kun. It was very rude of you to do that to Iruka. Apologise right now."

"Sorry Iruka-sensei..." Naruto muttered.

Iruka nodded so Hiruzen decided that the nod was all he was going to get out of him at the time. "No that that's out of the way, Naruto must be punished."

The boy's jaw dropped. "BUT JIJI!"

"No but's Naruto. You did something wrong and you must be punished. Now what should you're punishment be..." By this time Azula had come back and her swords were on her back and she was ready to leave. "Ah! I have it! Naruto-kun, you will give Azula-hime a tour of Konoha. We have only been here so you have a lot of ground to cover young man."

Naruto took one look at Azula before flashing his million watt grin to them. "You can count on me, Jiji!"

"Excellent. Now I want you to have her meet me at the hospital at seven tonight. And you must protect her with your life. Your life Naruto-kun."

"Got it!" Naruto shouted. He grabbed Azula by the hand and dragged her out of the Academy as fast as his little legs could cary him. Hiruzen watched the two run out and into the streets of Konoha.

"Like father like son." The Hokage muttered. "Well Iruka-kun, I must be going. Good day."

**I feel like I made Hiruzen sound a bit like Dumbledore from Harry Potter. Oh well, Dumbledore is cool... And gay so HAHA!**

**Cookies to who ever can guess the character who I didn't name.**


	4. F is for Friends

**Wow this took me longer than usual. I was actually trying to think of come things but it just never came to me. Luckily Fluffy no Danna helped me out. Thanks Danna.**

**Cookies to whoever guessed Chouji and Sakura. I might as well put the warning here, I will bash Sakura and probably Ino. It will be fun for me. Just wanted to warn you of that. **

**Well here you guys go!**

**~Protege: Abandoned~**

Uzumaki Naruto and Yuuhi Azula ran through the market place of Konoha. The duo ran through the croud at an alarming speed for some so young and they didn't even hit anyone. The closest they came to running into a person was a few centimeters away, but they were very large and took up almost the whole street so anyone would probablu run into the man.

Finally Naruto came to a halt at this banged up little shack with only a few stools and a bar. The sign out front said "Ichiraku's Ramen." Nobody was sitting at the bar at that time and even the street was quiet and empty. Azula noticed Naruto was starting to salivate at an alarming rate.

"First stop on our tour today is the best ramen place in the whole world!" Naruto declared

Azula looked at him skeptically. She did have some of Sho's ramen and that stuff was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. It made her stomach growl just thinking about it. "I don't believe you."

"Then why don't you try some?" Naruto shot back. She went throught the flaps covering half of the entrance.

"Because I don't have any money. Duh!" The concept of no money just dawned upon the young boy. He only had enough ramen for one bowl today, since he spent most of his allowance.

"Oh..."

Azula had now taken her seat at the bar. Now Naruto could get a good view of the girl. She had a simple red shirt on with black shorts and these very strange black boots. They were made of leather, Naruto thought. The shirt was made of silk but he did not know the materials for the shorts, possibly silk as well.

"I can tell... If you had money you would get normal shoes." Naruto responded.

"Hey!" She hit him, "These shoes are the best shoes money can buy!"

"If they're so good, why couldn't you keep up with me?" Naruto sassed back.

"because... they got worn out from my shinobi training!" Aaula practically yelling at him.

"Woah now!" An older man had appeared at the counter. "Naruto-kun, you need to be nice. How else are you supposed to get beautiful young ladies?"

"You call her beautiful, Teuchi-jiji!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Well duh, I AM a princess." Azula responeded.

Naruto's jaw dropped, "a Princess!"

Azula nodded and smirked. "Duh. Don't you see my crown?" Naruto shook his head. Then she remembered, her mother had taken it off when she left the Fire Nation. "Oh yeah... It's in my pack. I'll show you sometime."

"Okay... Princess." Naruto replied.

"Well..." Teuchi started, "Welcome to Ichiraku's, Princess."

"Thank you good sir. I would buy something but unfortunately I do not have any money." Azula responded politely.

"Oh I'll get you a bowl!" Naruto replied quickly. Azula looked at him shocked. "I have some instant stuff at home, besides, your stomach growled earlier."

"Um.. Okay..." She was about to say thank you but Princesses don't say thank you. "I'll have some Beef Ramen then."

Teuchi smiled and got to work on making her ramen. He noticed Naruto's mouth salivating at the thought of beef ramen but said nothing. He just decided that he would accidentally make too much and since he can't let it go bad, Naruto will just have to eat it. It was a pretty good plan. Yes, very good. Instantly he started his work.

While Teuchi was doing his work. Naruto just stared at the counter top awkwardly. Azula was snapping her fingers to see if she could make a flame come out of it. She made sparks but no frustrated her.

"Fire!" She whipsered after every snap but no fire came. After about ten snaps, Naruto finally glanced over.

"What are you doing?" He asked her. This shocked her enough that a six inch flame erupted out of her thumb.

"AGNI!" She shouted

"What the heck!" The boy yelled, "How did you do that!"

Azula looked at her hand, with the flame still on her thumb, to Naruto. "I'm a fire bender. Its easy. I've never snapped a flame though." She extinguished the flame and snapped again producing a smaller flame. "That shock must have been the kick I needed." She began to snap her other hand so she had two flames. Then the flames danced over her hands. She created a few other flames and conected them together to make flame strings. It was interesting as she did little tricks with her flames. This ammused Naruto greatly.

"That is so cool!" He said after she made a little flame dragon. "Can you teach me?"

"Umm.. Okay. I'll teach you. If you can do it."

"Hey, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I can do ANYTHING!" He declered.

"Well you guys go do that but be sure to fill up!" Teuchi called to the two. "Speaking of fill up. It looks like I made enough beef ramen to fill up two bowls!" The old man brought over two large bowls of beef ramen. "I can't let it go bad now. Naruto-kun, do me a favor and eat this bowl so it won't go bad okay."

Naruto grinned, "Yes sir!" He grabbed his chopsticks "Thanks Jiji!" Then he shovelled the bowl into his mouth as fast as he could.

Azula's eyes widened as she watched Naruto eat that ramen. He had downed almost an entire bowl in a bout two minutes. When he was slurping out the broth at the bottom, Azula broke her chopsticks and began to eat her ramen.

The first taste ws amazing. All of these flavors were bursting in her mouth and she had to get more. At this point she didn't care about being proper and perfact like she was trained to be. Right now she wanted more of the delicious ramen that sat before her. Azula shovelled the ramen into her mouth as fast as possible just to gat all of the flavor. It took the girl no mre than five minutes to eat the wole bowl.

"That was the best ramen I have ever tasted! You have to train someone else to make this like you so when I go home, I will have someone to make this for me!" The princess exclaimed.

"Why thank you Princess. I'm sure I can train my daughter to make this. She has always wanted to go adventuring." Teuchi replied thoughtfully. "But I would never let her go unless there was a strong ninja to protect her."

"I'll be the strongest ninja ever! And a Master Firebender! I already mastered the basics! I bet I will master the advanced sets before I even BECOME an ninja! I could protect her!" Azula declared with an arrogant smirk following.

"Well we will see, Princess." Teuchi smiled, "Have fun on you're tour of Konoha!"

Before Azula could say good bye, Naruto bolted out of the resturant (after he put his money on the counter) with Azula in tow. They ran through the market place again without hitting a soul until they came to a beautiful flower shop. The sign said Yamanaka Flowers.

"This flower shop is owned by a girl in my ninja class! Her name is Yamanaka Ino and hey-" Azula had decided to walk in and look at the flowers. There wewre many strange flowers that the Fire Nation didn't have and they interested Azula.

"Hello young lady!" A cheerful voice said behind her. The girl jumped and quickly produced a fireball in her had to attack the owner of that voice.

"Woah there darlin'!" The owner was a blonde ninja. He had long blonde hair that was tied up in a ponytail. "Did I scare you?"

Azula nodded curtly, but she still held the ball of flames.

"I'm sorry. My name is Yamanaka Inoichi. What is yours?" He had crouched down to her level to get a better look.

Azula stared at him for a moment and decided the man wasnt a threat. "Azula, I'm the Princess of the Fire Nation."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Azula-hime. You have very pretty eyes, you must be from the Yuuhi clan." Azula nodded, "Ah, who's child are you?"

"I'm the daughter of Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa." Azula answered him.

"Ursa-chan's daughter! Ursa-chan was a fine ninja. Very good. Shilled in the ways of healing and Genjustu. She had a very sharp mind. I guess Shikaku rubbed off on her a tad." Inoichi chuckled a bit.

"You knew my mom?" Azula asked

"Yup!"

"Oi! Hime!" Naruto had run inside the shop. "There you are! I though you wandered off! Jiji would have gotten me in trouble if I didn't protect you!"

"Hello there." Inoichi said to Naruto. He looked very suspiciously at the boy. Azula could see that Inoichi did not trust the boy. "And what is your name?"

"This is Uzumaki Naruto." Azula answered quickly, "he is my tour guide. He has been doing a very good job of it too. He even bought me lunch today."

"I see." The ninja responded.

"Yes. He is very strong too. I might just make him my guard." She said firmly. If anyone was going to pick on Naruto, they would have to go through her.

"I see then. You must be a very strong boy, Naruto. Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Both children replied and Azula ushered Naruto out of the store.

"So... now where to..." Azula asked him.

Naruto pondered this for a brief moment before he came up with some sort of plan. "Well we could go to the Hokage Monument. Well... Maybe not. You can see it all the time. See those rocks with the faces?" Azula looked to the rocks and nodded. "The Hokages are carved into the rocks. My face will be up there one day!" He beamed. Azula studied the rocks closely.

"The one next to Ojiisan with spiky hair looks like Sho-san. You look kinda like Sho-san too." The girl pointed out.

"You think I look like the Fourth Hokage? He's the best Hokage ever! He saved the whole village from the Kyuubi! He's so cool!"

Azula smiled, "Well now where do we go?"

"Lets go to the Memorial Stone. Ninjas who died protecting Konoha's names are on there. And we can pass through the market, thats where everyone gets food on our way there. And I'll show you a ninja store AND A clothing store so you can get some new shoes later."

Azula smacked him for the last comment but laughed along with him as it was pretty funny. "Well lets go!"

The two walked down the road and turned onto a larger road. Lines up along it were stands. Fruit stands, vegetable stands, meat stands, fish stands, clothing stands, ninja stands, they had every type of stand imaginable! It was like the Fire Nation Market but larger by far. Everything was there, like the Palace kitchen, but it was outside.

Azula never stopped to look at the stands and the merchants but boy did she want to. The only reason she resited was because it was beneath her dignity. What princess would show interest in such common folk? Not this one. Instead, Azula spent her time looking at the commoners. She noticed that most of them would glare at Naruto, whick earned them a glare from Azula. She did deduce that some, scratch that, many people did not like the boy. At all.

Naruto showed her a place where most ninja bought weapons. Azula grabbed her swords and explained that those were all she needed. The boy thought she was a bit weird but he continued a few blocks to show her the clothing store where a lot of genin and chunin get clothes. Inside they had some shoes, in black, like Azula wanted.

They escaped the hustle and bustle of theover crouded market place and contunied down a quieter road to the Memorial Stone. Before they got there, Azula picked some white wildflowers. Naruto questioned her but Azula decided to explain it later.

The two wandered in silence for many minutes until the reached the clearing with the large black rock standing there. There were many names on this rock, too many for Azula to read in one sitting.

"So what's with the flowers?"

Azula placed the flowers on the rock. "White represents loss and death in my country. I bet people really miss these ninja and I am sorry for Konoha's loss of these ninja." Azula explained.

Naruto nodded. "Thats nice. To do something like that even though you have only been here for a few hours."

Azula shrugged and stared at the rock. Then a name caught her eye. _Uzumaki Kushina_. She also saw another name. _Yuuhi Zuko_. The Zuko name caught her eye the most.

"Do you know of a Yuuhi Zuko?" She asked, Naruto shook his head.

"Where do you see it?" She pointed at the name which was a few away from Kushina's. "Those are people who died in the war... Or that's what Jiji said." Naruto shrugged and turned away. "We have to get going. I'll show you the training grounds where the ninja's train. It's not too far from here.

The rest of the two's time was spent at these training grounds though. Azula showed Naruto all of the Firebending Katas that she knew and the three jutsu that she learned from Sho. This impressed Naruto. Iruka hadn't started them on jutsus yet (that's what they were going to do before the Hokage and Azula interrupted) so he was eager to learn. Azula started him on the Substitution Jutsu since it was a very easy one. Within two hours he had it almost nailed but they quit because the sun was going down.

"Oh crap!" Naruto exclaimed, "we gotta go!" He took off running with Azula in tow. Azula had figured out that is she put chakra into her feet, she could keep up with the speed demon.

"Naruto-kun, we won't make it before the sun gets down!" Azula yelled as they dodged on coming pedestrians.

"What do we do?" The boy asked her as he dodged an old man.

Azula thought for a moment until an idea came. "Hold on to me and keep running!" She held her hand out and Naruto grabbed it. She then ran at the nearest wall.

"We're gonna crash!" He yelled at her. But the didn't. Azula ran up the wall and onto the roof. Lucky for her, Naruto was still running when they came to the first jump.

"JUMP!" She yelled at him. Both jumped at the same time and landed on the next roof and kept running. They repeated the process many times until they landed on the ground in front of the hospital.

When they landed, Azula fell to her knees and started panting. Naruto fell flat on the ground and started to pant. A moment later they heard claps.

"Bravo. You made it on time, and you learned something new it seemed." Both kids looked up to see the Hokage.

"Azula-hime did it, not me Jiji. I just told her where to go." Naruto said between breaths.

Both kids were pretty tuckered out. Hiruzen could see that. The topknot on the Princess' head was starting to come undone and Naruto was still laying on the ground. Another big give away was the fact that they were both panting.

"Well good job to both of you, for teamwork. Teamwork is the most important tool that a Shinobi has. Anyway, we must be getting inside so we can meet the newest member of Konoha."

Azula looked up quickly, "Sho-san's baby?" Hiruzen nodded. Azula jumped up quickly and even picked up Naruto, who made her stop because a princess sholdn't help people, people should help her. "Let's go Ojiisan!"

The Hokage smiled at Azula's excitement. Only a few hours ago she was very arrogant and made snide comments about everything. Now she was acting more like a normal child.

"Just us Azula-hime. Naruto-kun needs to go home and rest for school tomorrow."

"But Jiji!"

"But Ojiisan!" Both naruto and Azula whined at the same time.

"No buts. Naruto, you have to go to bed for school. You will see your new friend soon enough." Naruto sighed and slowly turned to walk home.

Azula was quickly ushered into the hospital to meet Sho's child.

The two walked down the long hallway to a hospital room where a blonde spiky haired ninja was sitting with a bundle in his hands.

"Sho-san?" Azula asked quietly from the door.

Sho tore his eyes away from the little bundle to look at the visitor. "Azula-chan! Hello!"

Azula smiled and walked into the room. Sho gestured her over to him and the small bundle.

"This is Namikaze Nao. My son and heir!" The baby looked had Sho's hair for sure.

"He's cute." Azula commented. "He looks like my new friend, Naruto. You look like my new friend too Sho." Azula knew she struck gold because Sho tensed up for a moment. She decided to play the innocent child and press forward. "He showed me around today. We got some Ramen, he payed for me. We went to the Yamanaka Flower Shop, uh, to the training grounds, to the memorial stone, I have a story about that too."

"What is your story?" Sho asked her.

"Well Naruto and I were at the stone when I saw a Yuuhi Zuko. Who is Zuko? I have a big brother Zuko but he is alive and he would be a very bad ninja."

"I thin I should answer that." Sho and Azula looked at the Hokage. "Yuuhi Zuko was the oldest of the Yuuhi line. He had gold eyes like you, which is rare for a Yuuhi, and he was a ninja lost in the the attack on Konoha. The Kyuubi killed him. He was a very promising jonin. By this time, your mother had already left to go to the Fire Nation. When she learned of her brothers death, she was devistated."

"So he died after my brother was named."

"I would assume so."

"Okay, I have another question."

"Ask away dear child. Questions are how we learn." The Hokage responded.

"Who is Uzumaki Kushina?"

**wooooh Cliffhanger, ish. What happens next? I don't know... Y'all will find out in like three to four days.**

**What justu should Naruto learn next (After he masters Substitution.) Body Flicker or Clone (Like the normal clone)**

**Later!**


	5. It Was A Mighty Duel

**Welcome to the short chapter. Every story has them. This one is mine. Sue me. Well don't actually that would suck. I tried to make Azula less godlike in this but er... well I'll let you decide. I did say Azula was going to be sue like. Oh well.**

Hiruzen looked at Azula in shock. 'How did she know about Kushina?' It did not matte how she knew about the woman, she would not know the truth. Yet.

"I will tell you when you become a jonin ninja, Azula-hime."

"What if you die?" Azula asked quickly.

The girl had him there. There would be no way to hide the from the perceptive princess. "I will write it down for you, in full detail so that somebody can girve it to you if I die." Hiruzen decided.

Azula found this fair and agreed to it. Although, just because the issue of Kushina was over, did not mean that Azula was finished. "Who is the Fourth Hokage? He looks like you Sho-san."

That was, of course, an understatement. Sho was almost the splitting image of the Fourth Hokage. His wild hair was the same shade of blonde and his eyes were the same color blue. Sho had almost the exact same build too. The only difference between the two was that Sho had slightly darker skin and his hair was just a bit shorter on the sides, but you would never be able to tell by looking at the rock with the Fourth's head on it. You also couldn't tell that they had the same build by a rock but that was entirely besides the point

"The Fourth was my Big Brother, he watched over me all the time*. He had a lot of enemies during the last war because he was so strong." Sho started.

"Which is why we don't send Sho-kun out on very many high level missions. Being the relative to the Fourth could prove disaterous." The Hokage finished, "We only send him out on the most important missions. We take great care in hiding this family as they are all that is left of the Namikaze line. Both well- all three of these people here, Princess, have false names, like you."

"Wow... So that's why people were calling me Hime..." Hiruzen just nodded.

Azula looked down upon the sleeping baby. "So even Nao-kun is in danger?"

"Very much so. Especially now since he can't protect himself."

Azula frowned for a moment. People would kill a baby because he is related to the Fourth? Even though they were not in war? Sure you might want revenge but killing a BABY! That was sickening to her. Even though she was the daughter of a man who would kill at the drop of a hat and her Grandfather and great grandfather were killing thousands every year, she still had some morals. Some.

"Well then I'm going to have to train extra hard so I can protect him." Azula replied. "I gotta start learing my Advanced Katas now and I gotta become a ninja too, and fast!"

Both men laughed at the girl's determination. "I'm sure you will be a ninja at 8 years old, if not sooner Azula-hime." Hiruzen said with a smile.

"She already knows that basic jutsus. I taught her during our week long journey. She already understands chakra because it also helps her with firebending. That's why she picked it up so fast." Sho told him. "Hime-chan is a protege!"

Azula smiled at the praise she was being knew she liked Sho for a reason. He was like the big brother she never got and always wanted. Azula and Hiruzen listened to Sho praise Azula for around five minutes. Then Nao woke up, and boy was he hungry.

A young woman, who had been asleep in the hospital bed before, had now woken up to tend to her child. Sho silently handed the small bundle to her. The tree averted their eyes so the current situation, which was awkward for the two males and princess, could not get anymore awkward.

"Hokage-sama! Forgive me, I didn't notice you!" The woman said when she had gotten Nao all situated.

"It is no problem at all Yuuki-san. Azula-hime and I were just on our way out. We came to check up on you all. I must return Azula-hime to my office where Kurenai-san will be picking her up. An ANBU just recently informed me that Kurenai-san was back from her mission, which was successful." Hiruzen replied.

"Well Hokage-sama, we still have to discuss Nao's false identity. Would you and my wife like to discuss it while I take Hime-chan to your office?" Yuuki glared at Sho for asking that. The two wanted to discuss the false identity together but apparently Sho had other plans.

"Alright. I shall do that."

"Okay!" Sho kissed his wife, grabbed Azula and jumped through the window. All in under five seconds.

"He was sure quick to leave..." Yuuki growled bitterly.

"Just so he can return faster." Hiruzen replied. He had not clue to be honest but it was best not to anger Yuuki. Women that are angry, are trouble.

Sho landed outside of the Hospital. He put the princess down and both started to walk to the Hokage's Mansion. It wasn't completely dark yet and people were returning home or just heading out to enjoy a night on the town.

Azula observed the people and how they reacted around Sho. Nobody came within a foot of the man. Many people looked at him with admiration and greeted him cheerefully when they saw him. The people seemed to love him greatly.

"Why do the people like you, Sho-san?" Azula asked.

"Well Hime-chan. They know who my brother was and how he died saving the village. He was a hero. But after I heard what happened to him, and how it was the work of a certian ninja, I went off to kill the man." Sho replied to Azula. "I wanted revenge..."

"Did you kill him?"

"No, I stabbed him in the eye. His right eye. Now he can't use it and his attacks aren't as strong."

"Oh... It would have been cooler if you killed him."

Sho let out a hearty laugh. "I guess so. But I did reduce his strength quite a bit I will say. Now he definetly cannot do anything like that again."

"Like what?"

"You'll see eventually." Azula growled. She knew better than to push him on the subject because he would not say a single word on it. "Some revenge there. I would have killed him."

Sho didn't respond to the comment. Instead they continued in silence. It was a wonderful silence until a large group of drunk men interrupted it.

"GET AWAY DEMON!" They screamed, and variations of that. Each had a rock or a piece of broken glass in their hands and they were hitting something with it.

"No! Stop! Please!" Azula instanly turned her attention to the large group. "Help!" The voice cried out again.

"Hime-chan..." Sho warned the girl. She had already started forming fire in her hands. "What are you doing? Those guys could kill you!"

"They're hurting my friend! They're hurting Naruto!" Azula whispered back.

_Naruto_. His nephew. The kid that Sho wasn't alowed to have any contact with at all.

Azula looked at Sho curiously. Was he going to help or was she going to have to kill everyone by herself. The ninja looked like he was having an internal debate that might take a while so he turned her attention back to the men and charged.

"Heeeeyyyyaaa!" She screamed, sending a flaming punch into a man's back. He screamed and moved just enough so that Azula could get between them and Naruto.

"Don't you dare touch my friend or I'll kill you all!"

The men looked confused for a moment. Then one picked up a rock and threw it at Azula. She countered by sending a powerful fireball at it. The rock was then hurled back at the thrower with the same force and some fire in his face. Without waiting for the men to fight back, she sent an arc of fire their way to burn them. Unfortunately one was able to dodge and find a piece of broken glass to hurl at the young boy while Azula was distracted.

The glass hit Naruto in the kidneys. "I killed him!" The man screamed victoriously but then the boy turned into a log. Naruto had mastered the Substitution Jutsu.

'What do I do?' Sho thought frantically. 'If I don't do something, Naruto and Azula get killed. If I do actually do something, I face exile from Konoha and I will have to turn in my headband and I won't be able to watch over Naruto like Minato asked me. Oh why me!' When Sho saw Naruto get hit with the glass piece, his anger erupted. His hand ignited and he sent a fireball into the ground. 'That is IT! I'm going in... This is for you Minato!'

The other men were focused on beating the crap out of Azula. After she burned them, they only got angrier. She was doing her best to defend herself with her flames but the rage and drunkeness of the men drove them onward. One man managed to grab her while the others started hitting her and cutting her with broken glass.

"Not so tough eh girly?" One of the men slurred before he punched her in the cheek.

Right before a man delivered a large blow to her face, Sho stepped and personally incapacitated them. It was very lucky for Azula because she had been beated to a bloody pulp.

Sho growled and started to pile the men up (by slamming them into the ground or into each other very hard and painfully) before turning his attention to Azula and Naruto (who had come out from behind a barrel where he was hiding).

"Are you two alright?" He asked calmly "Did they break anything, are you bleeding anywhere?"

"I've had worse." Azula replied. She was brusied on her right cheek and there was some blood running down her left leg and arm. Her shirt was ripped when she was thrown to the ground by one man and from the various cuts. None were deep but they hurt like a bitch. "Nothing broken."

"Good."

"Hey Sho-san?" Azula asked.

"Yes?"

"Can I go stab them?" She had taken out one of her swords,

"No, you would get in trouble." He could see Azula thinking up a retort but he beat her to speaking, "It doens't matter if you are a Princess or not. Okay?" Azula just growled in response. "How are you doing Naruto?"

Naruto looked worse than she did. He was bruised all over his body and cut up too. His nose was broken and Sho, after assessing him, could find a few breaks in his ribs.

"Well kids, looks like you don't have school tomorrow." The shinobi said in a light manner. Both kids giggled a bit but said nothing. He sighed. "Alright... C'mon Naruto, I'll take you to the hospital. And I'll make sure that you see a good medic so you can get better fast."

"I don't wanna..." Naruto replied in a timid manner.

"I know, but you have to. C'mon, Rin-chan is a very good medic nin, she will fix you up quickly. The faster you go, the faster you and Azula can play." This made Naruto instantly agree. Azula got on Sho's back and held on while Naruto was clinging to the front of Sho.

"I need to get to the Mansion..." Azula said before they took off.

"OH yeah... Naruto, do you think that you can hold off a little bit while we take Azula to meet her aunt?" The boy nodded. "Okay, let's go!"

Sho took of and bolted to the Hokage's Mansion as fast as his legs could go. The arrived two minutes later and met Kurenai in the Hokage's Office.

"Sho-kun!" She exclaimed, "You're the one that has been taking care of my niece?"

"Yup!" Azula dropped to the ground. "And here she is!"

The princess walked out from behind Sho and stared Kurenai in the eyes. She had red eyes and wavy black hair but she looked a lot like her mother. Azula instantly got a good vibe from Kurenai and smiled at the woman.

"Hello."

"Hi! You must be Azula!" She nodded, "I'm your Aunt, Kurenai. You can call me Kurenai-Obasan." She noticed the bruises and cuts on the girl but did not say anything yet.

"Well it was nice to see you Kurenai, but I have to get Naruto to the hospital." Sho said quickly.

"Naruto... Is that-" She stopped herself from saying too much, "Is that his name? What happened?"

"I'll let Azula tell you, I have to run." He didn't say another word before he took off out the window.

"Well..." Kurenari said after an awkward silence. "Lets get you home so we can patch you up. You look like you've had a long day."

Azula just nodded. The girl was exhausted. She didn't realize it until her aunt had picked her up and she didn't even argue. She hated being dependent on people. It was probably the biggest thing that annoyed her but right now she was too tired to care.

Kurenai grabbed Azula's things that were sitting on the Hokage's desk (after she checked that everything Ursa had said was in there, was in there). Then she noticed something wrapped up in a cloth. Being ever so careful (and curious) she opened it to reveal Azula's crown. She quickly put it back in the cloth and placed it in her pocket.

The kunoichi looked at Azula to find out that the princess was asleep on her. The woman chuckled before taking off into the night with the princess in her arms.

*** BIG BROTHER BAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! 1984 REFERENCE! Danna is gonna hate meeee~!**

**Anywho~ please comment. I actually got this out BEFORE my deadline. I was going to post it on the 9th but I decided not to. HAH!**

**Well, later.**

**REVIEW!**


	6. NOTICE

**NOTICE**

**THIS STORY IS ON HOLD FOR ABOUT A WEEK**

**My grampa is in the care of Hospice and is dying I am with him now and have little/no inspiration what so ever.**

**The next chapter will be out in about a week...**

**Sorry.**

**-TR**


	7. You Dare Threaten A Princess?

**I'm BAAAAACK! Miss me?**

**This chapter took a lot longer than usual because of this thing called writer's block. I have an outline about how things are gonna go down but I never really put a lot of detail into the beginning of Azula's life. I should probably go back and do that. Whatever. So, I'm back now, that's the important thing. These next few chapters are going to be a bit harder on me because I'm just pulling shit out of my ass right now. Enjoy.**

The next morning Azula awoke at dawn, like usual, but decided that it was much to early to wake up. If her father wanted her, he come get her himself. She didn't realize at that time that she wasn't in the Palace anymore. It wasn't until Kurenai shook her gently to wake her that she realized that she was in fact, in Konoha.

"C'mon Azula, wake up." Kurenai pulled the sheets off of Azula to try and get her up.

"To early." The girl groaned before rolling over. She threw the covers back oover her head and tried to hide under them.

Kurenai sniled and pulled the sheets off again. "Come on. You need new clothes, new shoes and the sooner we get your new things, the sooner you see your friend in the hospital."

Azula sat bolt upright and jumped out of her bed. "Well lets go!" She ran to put some fresh-er clothes on and her terribly worn out shoes before running out of the room. Kurenai caught her by the collar of her shirt.

"You need breakfast first and I have to rebandage your injuries." Azula looked at her legs where some bandages were. They were almost all red and soaked with her blood. She sighed in defeat and sat down on the bed so that Kurenai (who was armed with bandages and a first aid kit) could fix her up.

Azula sat there in silence. She hated being weak like this and letting someone change her bandages and coddle her like her weak brother Zuko. It was a great pet peeve of hers. At least the ninja was gentle and didn't hurt her like anyone else would. She would the bandages tight, but not too tight. She would clean everything and disinfect it as well. The chunin eve put her hair up in her typical topknot, without the crown of course.

When she was finished, Kurenai nodded at her work and stood up. "Well lets go. You need some new clothes and now... When was your last bath?"

Azula racked her brain for that answer. She hadn't had a bath on the ship and surely didn't have one when she entered Konoha. The last time she had bathed was when she was still in the Fire Nation. "Before I left..." She asnwered quietly.

"Well that explains why you reaked last night. Don't worry, I washed you up last night so we don't have to delay today." Azula smiled, she really liked this woman. "Lets go. I can tell you're eager."

Kurenai and Azula exited the tiny apartment in search of something delicious to eat for breakfast that they would be able to take with them. Kurenai ended up wandering into her favorite Dango shop to quickly purchase some of the deliciousy goodness before the two went on their clothing hunt.

Kurenai directed Azula to the main market of Konoha that Naruto had showed her earlier. It was as busy as the last time she saw it but instead of speeding through the market place, Azula got to look at the stores. She noticed the stores that Naruto had mentioned earlier and started to make a bee line toward it but Kurenai pulled her away.

"Mine is better." Was all she explained to her. Azula shrugged and coninued onward. They turned on a street and got off of the Market. "It's not too far from here." They were now in a better part of Konoha, the houses were nicer here.

The first stop was a store that Kurenai always shopped at, clothes wise. It was a small store that had the basic things that Kurenai liked. Nothing too fancy. The young chunin slid the door open and a bell tinkled alerting a clerk that someone had arrived.

"Ah! Kurenai-san! Back I see! I have this fantastic design I would love to show you. I think you might like it better than your current outfit! It even works with that new Genjutsu that you created!"

Kurenai smiled, "I'd love to see it but currentlly I'm shopping for my niece who will be staying with me until she becomes a jonin. She needs an entire wardrobe."

The clerks eyes lit up. "Well right this way!"

Azula and Kurenai were led to a back room where there were some incredible designs on the walls and clothes were piled, neatly, to the ceiling. There were some maniquins with certian clothes on them. Azula was amazied at the variety of clothing.

"So what were you thinking?" The clerk asked the duo.

"Something red with the black ninja sandals. I hate the color blue." Azula said quickly.

"Alright, no blue for you." The clerk said quickly. "Any cloth preferences?"

"Silk." Azula said quickly.

"No silk." Kurenai replied. "It will fall appart while training. Same stuff that my outfits are made of, Haruno-san. It will last longer."

"I can do that." The man said, he was writing this down. "Any other colors that you like?"

"Gold and black." Azula answered simply. "All of the other colors are not colors the the Fire Nation uses so they are not important."

The male Haruno looked at Kurenai, who shrugged, before writing again. "Any gloves?"

"Are they fire proof?"

Both adults looked at the child curiously. "No..." They both responded.

"Then they will be useless. ANything that covers my hands and feet need to be somewhat fire proof. Maybe even my clothes." Azula told the white haired man. "They could burn."

"Why would they burn?" The White haired Haruno asked the young child tenitavely.

Azula smirked and held her hand up for the two to get a good view of it. Then suddenly fire was floating in it! "I'm a Fire Bender. I need fire proof things." In miliseconds, the bright orange flame disappeared.

The man nodded rapidly before dissappearing into one corner. He appeared with a large roll of cloth under his arms. It was white and looked very heavy to Azula. Or the man was just really weak and couldn't carry it.

"I can form all of your clothes out of this cloth. It has special qualities which makes it fire proof and it also has a thin layer of steel to protect from any projectiles." That explained the weight. "Just give me the colors and I can make you a few outfits by the end of the day. If you want any designs it will take longer."

Azula thought this over. "Red, Gold and Black. I'd like my pants or shorts or whatever to be black for sure... If that's not too expensive." Kurenai shrugged. She never really spent any of her money on herself or anything so she had enough for the girls clothing and any other things so she didn't really mind.

"Go for it kid. I don't care." Kurenai replied. She had finally started eating some of the dango. As much as she didn't like sweet food, that dango really hit the spot.

For the next hour, Kurenai ate dango and watched Haruno-san as he measured the six year old girl and started designing the custom clothing for her. Azula was measured, remeasured and re-remeasured just to make sure that these colthes that she would be getting, were perfect. The man let the clothes be a little loose fitting so that the child would have room to grow into it.

Her shirts would reach to her elbows and her shorts would go to her knees. This way she could grow and not have to get more custom made clothing. Azula would be recieving three red shirts, three gold shirts, three black shirts and one white shirt (At Kurenai's request). She also had five pair of black shorts, two pair of black capris and a pair of red training pants. The training pants were also Kurenai's request.

"Thanks for getting the measurments for all of that Haruno-san!" Kurenai said, "We will probably be back later today. Probably around Three. Will that be alright for you?"

The man nodded, "Of course. I'll have these made in a few hours. Feel free to get the shoes that you need too. She probably won't need anything special with them, they are pretty durable so she should be fine."

"Great!" Kurenai exclaimed, "Now we have to go get her weapons." Azula was about to respond when Kurenai quickly added, "More weapons." The girl shrugged, she always had her firebending so whatever. And her swords wouldn't break when she used it so she could bend with her swords too.

Azula pucked out a pair of shoes for herself. The were black, obviously. She quickly traded her old and worn shoes for the newer, comfier and much better shoes.

The duo waved to the great merchant as they left the store. The market was still crowded when they got back on go to the weapons store. This time they went to the store that Naruto had shown her.

"Is this store good?" She asked Kurenai.

"For what you need, yes. I'm not spending a lot of money on weapons that you will probably lose in your first few C ranks. You can get better weapons later."

Azula growled, she should be getting the best. She WAS a Princess, she should get the best!

"Besides, their stuff is the best for Fire Justus which I figure you will be using anyway."

The princess shrugged. I guess it was alright then. Besides, she had her swords.

The two walked into the already packed store. Shinobi from other counrties were in there looking at the things this place had to offer. Azula could tell that they weren't from Konoha because of their headbands had different symbols. Kurenai could tell that Azula was confused why other Ninja were in their country.

"Chunin Exams." She told the girl.

"All of these ninja are here for that?" Kurenai nodded, she didn't want to call any attention them. Both of them walked up to the counter and just waited for someone to get to them.

"What happens in the chunin exam?"

"Ninjas try to become Chunin." Kurenai responded.

"How?"

"By taking three different tests. But you can be disqualified or taken out in the middle of them too."

"What are the tests?"

"I can't tell you all of them, but the last test is a battle to show skillsa dn people form everywhere come to watch it."

Azula nodded. A battle between canidates sounded very fun. She could do that. For the next few minutes, Azula had a day dream about a battle like that.

"Why haven't they gotten to us?" Azula asked when she finished her daydream.

"Because others were here first." Kurenai explained.

Azula put her hands on the counter and hoisted herself up onto the counter. "Well they should be more focused on us."

This statement started calling attention to the two. Kurenai noticed this but kept her cool. "Why is that?"

"Because I'm a princess. Duh." The girl explained, "They should be attending to my every need."

This caused a boy from Grass Country to laugh, "If YOU'RE a princess, Then I'm King of the World."

'Fuck.' Kurenai thought. 'Here we go...'

"I AM a Princess!" Azula responded calmly to the ninja. Her legs were crossed and she gave off the I-am-so-much-better-than-you vibe at that point. She then held her hand out to Kurenai signaling for the young woman to hand over the crown.

Kurenai sighed and pulled the crown out of her vest pocket. She had taken it out of Azula's bag last night. Azula took the crown and put in her hair.

"Bullshit!" The boy yelled back. "Princess of what?"

"I don't have to disclose this information to a peasant such as yourself." The six year old peasant replied.

"PEASANT! I COME FROM THE GREATEST CLAN IN ALL OF GRASS COUNRTY!" He yelled before he chared Azula with a kunai in hand. Azula was shocked but reacted by pulling out her Dragon Katana to stab him. All of the older ninjas saw that this could end badly and luckily for them, Kurenai, who was going to proctor the exams, stopped the boy.

"Name." She said with athority.

"Jun. Jun of the Kusajin clan." The boy growled.

"You're behavior will be reported to your team jonin, country leader, the Hokage and to the Exam Proctors." Kurenai said to him.

"So?"

"That means that if you did something bad, Jun, then you just got the whole team banned from partaking in the Chunin Exams this time around... Or ever, depending on how badly you fucked up." A man who just walked into the store replied.

"Sensei!" The boy turned around quickly and the color drained from his face.

"Lets go. You've caused enough damage today." The boy left the store but the sensei stayed. "Sorry ma'am."

"Apologize to the princess." Kurenai replied. Azula had now gotten off the counter and her sword was back in its sheath.

The man knelt down to Azula. "I'm terribly sorry Princess. My studet overreacted. How can I make it up to you."

Azula thought for a moment. Making the boy her slave would sound nice, but she didn't want to deal with him all the time. She could say that there was nothing he could do. That might get her in trouble with the Hokage. There was alway the possibility of executing him. He did attack royalty with intent to kill. But that also would probably get her in trouble. Kicking his ass sounded good too. It wouldn't get her in that much trouble. Then the idea came to her.

"I don't want him or his team to compete in the exams." She said simply. "Ever..." Then she amended her last statement a little. "Well, I don't want this team competing this year. But they can compete other times, just not him. I want that boy to never get to take part in the exams."

"But Princess-"

"DO NOT interrupt me while I am speaking!" Azula growled, some sparks flew off her hands. "Anyway." She growled, "the only time he can compete in the exams is when I take them myself. And only then."

The sensei weighed his options. Take his team out, and keep Jun from the exams for a few years and be stuck with him, OR leave them in the exams and face war with Konoha.

"Sounds reasonable." The man replied.

"It damn well better. I could have him killed under attempted assassination." Kurenai growled. "In her country, that is instant execution."

"Thank you for not executing my student then Princess."

"Now, leave my sight and take that worthless peasant away too." Azula growled. The man nodded and fled the store as fast as he could.

When he was out of sight, Kurenai high fived the six year old. "Nice acting."

"I wasn't. I serioiusly thought of insisting to the Hokage that the boy be turned over to us and executed." Azula said calmly. "But I'd rather beat his ass."

Kurenai nodded, beating people sounded more fun. Both females went back to the counter and purchased the required weapons for Azula and a few things to take care of her swords with.

After that was all said and done, Kurenai left with a lighter wallet and Azula left with a shuriken holster, kunai pouch and a back of weapon care items. The only thing that would complete the girl's outfit were her new clothes and a headband.

Kurenai walked down the street with Azula in tow. The Princess had no idea where they were headed and Kurenai wasn't going to tell her. It frustrated the princess but she just went with it. She couldn't do anything about it anyway. Kurenai was her guardian now and to be honest, her orders meant nothing here... except to certian foreign ninja.

They continued down the road and Azula started to notice things. The first thing was that she thougt she had been there before. Naruto had probably dragged her down this road during her tour but she was quite unsure. She didn't know where she was until she reached a familiar building.

"Why are we at the hospital?" Azula asked. Kurenai gave her a look that just said you-are-so-retarted. "Are we here to visit Sho-san?" The chunin shook her head. "Uh... Nao-kun?" More head shaking. "Um... Oh! NARUTO!"

Azula took off running. She was fast for a little kid but Kurenai caugh her before she entered.

"Calm down!" She said after she grabbed Azula's arm.

"Oops..." Kurenai sighed and released the girl.

Both females walked in the hospital. Kurenai approached the front desk, looked around and whispered to the medic that was there. Azula, who was next to Kurenai, couldn't hear what they were saying but she assumed it was about her new friend. Finally, after a few minutes, they were given Naruto's room number and the duo went on their way.

**That whole thing with Kusajin or whatever I named him was something I pulled out of my ass for funzies. Probably sucked, whatever. It was fun writing Azula being all bitchy. Best part I'd say.**

**So I'm warning you now, there is going to be some Age Bending happening here. You see, as the author, I have special bending abilities, like the Avatar, but more awesome. So a few of our loveable characters will have their ages changed... by like 10 years but whatever. It makes them look a little more awesome... And I love those two (even if they are just Tsunade's errand guys). I wonder who I'm talking about? XD**

**Well later.**

**-TR**

**If I fucked up on something major, please tell me. Will I fix it? Maybe.**


	8. We are Family

**Hey everyone! I have seriously had the shittiest time writing this. It's probably because I've had a bad two months with my Grampa dying and the woman I love leaving me but whatever. Please forgive the crap that I kind of pulled out of my ass to complete this chapter. It will come back, but a lot later in the Series. Like a whole lot later.**

**Well have fun reading. I hope it doesn't suck. I started to forget about this because I started reading KiGo fics (Kim Possible x Shego... I like Shego, don't judge me). I like yuri/femslash/lesbians. Yeah for some reason when I was browsing DevART a few weeks ago, I saw this Kigo pic and I was like DAMN! I like this paring! I might write a Kigo oneshot later... Maybe... Whatever. Later!**

Uzumaki Naruto stared out the window in his hospital room. He was perfectly fine at this point in time and he was very frustrated that the nurses and medics were not letting him leave the hospital. This was bound to come out of his bi-weekly allowance that the Hokage gave him. He had already run out of money and so now he would have to be very conservative with his eating. That meant no Ichirakus this time around. Lucky for him, he had bought at least a hundred instant ramens at huge sale in the grocery store nearest him.

They young boy growled about his predicament before he deceided to plan his escape. He had a window right next to his room that he could easily climb out of if he wanted to but then he would have to make it from the hospital, to his house. His house was at least ten minute run. And he knew that plenty of shinobi would chase after him too... His thoughts were cut short by a soft knock on his hospital room door.

The white door swung open to reveal a Kunoichi with red eyes and black wavy hair in a chunin vest and a red shirt under it.

"NARUTO!" The boy smiled when he heard the voice of his new friend, Azula.

"Hi Azula-hime!" The boy said excitedly, "How are you doing? Did thouse guys hurt you?"

"It's nothing I can't handle Naruto. I'm just scratched up a little. Kurenai said earlier that I might have a scar on my leg."

"Cool a battle scar!" He said, "I'm all healed but the nurses and medics won't let me go."

"What!" Azula was shocked, he was beaten way worse than she was and yet he was healed before her? "But you were hurt more than me? How did you heal before me?"

Naruto just shrugged, "I heal faster than most people. Even the medic, Rin-san, said I heal faster than a lot of people. She says I'm lucky and that someone is looking out for me."

'No doubt it's the Kyuubi' Kurenai thought. From what she had seen from the boy, he was fast, like all Namikaze's, and he could heal much faster than anyone she had ever seen in her life.

"I see... Guess what I got!" Azula said in a superior tone that Naruto had heard throughout their tour yesterday.

"What?" He asked her.

"I got new clothes, and new shoes-" She pointed to her new black shinobi sandals, "-and some new weapons so that I can be a proper ninja." She finished and then put her hands on her hips. "Jealous?"

"Nope, now you look normal and not like a weirdo." He joked.

They started to exchange insults. Azula's were usually more colorful, for lack of a better term and Naruto's were just simple. Half of the things they were calling each other, the insultee didn't know what that was. The whole exchange was rather humorous in Kurenai's eyes. Finally the exchange ended when there was a knock on Naruto's door. Kurenai opened the hospital door to reveal a nurse. She had some bandages in her arms and declared that it was time for his bandages to be changed. Kurenai instantly offered to help but the nurse wouldn't ear of it.

"If you could leave for a moment, that would be nice." The young nurse explained. She was certianly younger than the Chunin and since she was only a civilian, Kurenai really didn't have to do what she said. She was about to say that she was going to stay, but Azula did that for her.

"I think we are going to stay." The princess said in her I'm-better-than-you voice. She even followed up with the Don't-Question-Me look. "I haven't gotten to see my friend all day and I just came to check on him so I plan to stay and check on him."

Kurenai smirked, "I'm with the kid. I promised her that we could stay for a few hours. So we will stay for a few hours."

The nurse didn't argue with the Shinobi of the little kid. She just wanted to get the job done so that she could get away from the "Demon Child." She started removing the bandages to realize that Naruto had completely healed. She was in shock. No normal person could heal that fast, but then she reminded herself that this was the "Demon Child."

"Well you are all healed." She stated.

"I knew that." Naruto replied, "I was fine when I woke up but nobody listened to me." The young boy stated. "Everyone told me to wait until Rin-chan got here to say that I was fine."

"Rin-san should be around shortly then." The nurse said curtly. She then exited the room as fast as she could.

Azula watched the nurse leave. She did not like that nurse at all. That nurse didn't seem to like Naruto at all either. Azula couldn't understand why? The boy was very nice and polite. He was a little crazy and a bit hyper, but that would be no reason to dislike him. Azula shruged it off and decided that she should be hanging out and talking with her new friend.

And talk they did. Azula told Naruto everything about the Fire Nation. She spoke of the war, her stupid brother Zuko. Her fat uncle who she now kind of liked because he gave her the swords even though she had no clue how to use them. She told him about her life and how her mother was always babying Zuko and how she had already mastered the Basics of Firebending and she would be moving to advanced soon. It was very obvious to Naruto that Azula didn't like her mother.

"You don't like your mom, do ya?" He asked her. That comment drew Kurenai's attention. She had been busy thinking of other things and she didn't really hear the convorsation.

"Not really. She likes Zuzu more anyway. She says she shipped me off here to make me stronger but I just think she doesn't like me." Azula said. The reason behind being sent to Konoha had been at the back of Azula's mind for the past few days. She had finally decided that her mother just didn't love her (not that Azula cared for the woman anyway). "I don't really like my family... Except Kurenai-obasan!" Kurenai smiled a little at that. "She spends way more time with me than my Mom ever has."

"At least you have a family." Naruto responded. "I don't have a family at all."

Azula frowned at this. "I'll be your family we can be siblings! You'd be a better brother than Zuzu anyway." By this time Kurenai had tuned back out of the converstation.

"But you don't look like me. Families look alike." Naruto said. "Your eyes are gold, mine are blue. You have straight black hair and I have wild blonde hair."

Azula pondered this for a moment. She studied Naruto for a little bit before a brilliant plan came to her head. "I have it!" She jumped up and ran to the window where she could see her reflection. The young girl grabbed a kunai out of her back pouch and started to cut whiskers into her cheeks. It took her a few minutes to make them look perfect, but she did it. The she took a finger and lit it on fire and traced over them with it so that the cuts would heal and scar over giving her whiskers. When she truned around, Kurenai looked at her.

"What the HELL di you do!" She shouted at the six year old who now had blood on her face

"Gave myself whiskers to look like Naruto so that we could be family." She responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It didn't hurt that much! Besides if I'm going to be a ninja, I have to be used to a lot of pain. So I'm training!"

"Azula, self mutilation is not training. That is bad! No more doing things like that ever again!" The chunin said sternly. Azula could tell that. The girl nodde unhappily but she now had whiskers like Naruto.

Azula turned to Naruto and smiled, "I havve whiskers like you now. So now we can be family."

Naruto smiled, "Okay! You and I can be brother and sister now! I wonder what Jiji will say if we tell him!"

Both kids started talking about what they both thought would happen. They continued this conversation for a few minutes until they were interrupted by Rin. She gave Naruto a clean bill of health and she brought more good news. She told him that someone paid for all of his medical bills for him so that he could bet his allowance that week. Naruto cheered for that, now he and Azula could go to Ichiraku's some time soon. Kurenai suspected that Sho paid for the bills but sad nothing.

The chunin took the two children out of the hospital when naruto was released and he joined the two females in their shopping adventure. They ended up returning to the clothing store to pick up Azula's new wardrobe. Everything looked very spiffy to the girl and she liked everything. The trio ended up spending the rest of the day playing in the park, meaning Azula and Naruto played while Kurenai watched them.

Naruto and Azula played until the sun started to set. When that happened, Kurenai decided that it was time for everyone to get home and go to bed. Both children agreed with that, they were tired now and wanded a good long sleep, especially since they would be going to school the next day. School, something both kids were dreading. Azula knew that she would be bored ouf her mind since she knew all the jutsus to graduate. She knew there were other things needed to pass but the Jutsus were the main things. Naruto on the otherhand was not looking forward to dealing with Sasuke and all of the girls who liked him.

"C'mon Naruto, we'll walk you home." The walk was five minutes long but the returned Naruto to his house safely.

"Bye Naruto!" Azula said, "I"ll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye Azula-hime! See you tomorrow!" The boy said before he shut his door. When it did shut, the girls returned to Kurenai's apartment.

Kurenai forced Azula to take a bath that night she she wouldn't have to get one in the morning. Azula didn't want to, but she did and then crawled into bed. Five minutes later, she was out like a light. Kurenai waited in the apartment for a little bit longer, just to be sure that Azula was definitely asleep before she shinshun'd to the Hokage's Office with Hiruzen was awake and waiting for the young chunin.

"So, how was today?" He asked her.

"It was good, except for the part when Azula carved whickers into her cheeks to look like Naruto so that they could be family." Kurenai replied. She thought the girl was an idiot for that.

"Family hm?"

"Family. They want to be family."

Hiruzen thought about that. "The only way they can be family is if they marry though." The Hokage pointed out. "Naruto isn't the head of his clan so he cannot adopt Azula into his family. The Namikaze and Uzumaki clan have no heads so marriage would be the only way."

"Hokage-sama, they are six. They are just goofy kids- wait... What about Sho? He's the clan leader of the Namikazes." Hiruzen shook his head. "He isn't? Did someone kill him." Hiruzen shook his head again.

"He went against direct orders and he and his family have been banished from Konoha. Not from Fire Country, just Konoha."

Kurenai looked at the old man in shock, "Why!"

"He went against Orders and talked to Naruto, which he wasn't allowed to do. He knew the consequences. If Naruto knew anything about his past, he would be put in so much danger that we cannot risk." Hiruzen stated calmly.

"But he saved Naruto..."

"Which is why I only banished him from Konoha for a short time. He may come back when his son, Nao, attends the Academy for training. By that time, Naruto should hopefully be a ninja and be able to take care of himself."

Kurenai was silent and took in all of this information. "How can Naruto take control of his clans?"

Hiruzen held up two fingers. "Two ways. One, he becomes a Chunin. Two, he marries. I say that for now, we put Azula as the boy's bethrothed but do not tell either of them until later. This will also protect both of them from other issues that we could face down the road."

"Like ROOT?" Kurenai asked him. The Clan Heads will be less likely to give Danzo the boy is he is engaged and they probably wouldn't give up the young firebender either.

"And may other things like arranged marriages from other countries and clans. Once people see that the power those two have, people will want to marry their kids to them. With Azula as Naruto's betrothed, they will have a decent marriage and possibly grow to love each other. They have hit it off quite well already. Besides, with Azula as his partner, she can help him improve faster. It will be a good thing for both of them." The Hokage insisted.

Kurenai paused again to take everything in. She knew that if someone wanted and arranged marriage with Azula, and she wasn't betrothed, they might not be able to refuse. Hopefully by the time the whole issue came around again, Azula would be back in the Fire Nation so that they would never have to deal with it. there was a good chance that it could happen so Azula would never have to deal with it anyway.

"When would we tell them?"

"When they both reached Chunin or Naruto reaches 16. 16 is the marrying age in the Fire Nation, correct?" Kurenai nodded, "Then we will use that... Do you agree."

Kurenai shrugged, "I don't really have a choice in this matter do I?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "Not really. I could use my ank of Hokage to make this happen. If you agreed, it would just make it easier.

The chunin sighed but then nodded, "okay... Do it. If it will protect them, do it."

"I thought you'd see it my way. Besides, now I can tell the Kusajin clan that Azula is betrothed to Naruto so she could not marry Kusajun Jun." The Hokage replied, "I tol dyou it would protect her."

Kurenai gave him a weak smile, "that you did, Hokage-sama... That you did."

**I swear some of this comes back later! A lot later, but later!**

**I feel like I'm losing my groove, anyone else think so? I do. I blame my shitty two months.**


	9. ANOTHER NOTICE

**Hey, just wanted to let you know that the sequel to Abandoned is up!**

**It's called Rising. **

**Thank you all for supporting me through this story and sorry it ended abruptly. But I like messing with you guys. Haha!**

**Later!**

**-TR**


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